18th Wing conducts first FOD walk of year

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kenya Shiloh
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  More than 1,000 Airmen, Sailors and Marines gathered at the Kadena flight line to "walk the runway" for the annual New Year's FOD walk held Jan. 3.

According to Master Sgt. Warren Rogers, outgoing 18th Wing Foreign Object Damage program manager, a FOD walk is conducted at the beginning of every year as part of 18th Wing Safety Day. He said normally the wing will shut down flying operations for a few hours to focus on safety activities and operational risk management issues as well as prepare for the 101 Critical Days of summer. However, FOD walks are conducted every day by maintenance personnel in their area of responsibility before the first flight of the day.

"The New Year's FOD walk is considered the biggest FOD walk of the year," Sergeant Rogers said. "There are many different people from various organizations and units that do not get a chance to go out onto the flight line. This gives them a firm understanding and awareness of what we do every day to maintain safe flying operations."

According to Sergeant Rogers, the 18th Wing has been conducting a FOD walk right after New Years since 2000 and it has since become a Team Kadena tradition.

"The purpose of conducting these FOD walks is to increase awareness and education of how critical the FOD program is and to maintain combat capability for the 18th Wing," Sergeant Rogers said.

FOD is any damage that occurs to aircraft, aircraft systems or jet engines. FOD could also be classified as tools, lost items or any airfield debris that could damage an aircraft.

One participant picked up several pieces of paint chips and gravel that were scattered throughout the runway. "Millions," said Lt. Col. Jody Dow, 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander. "That's how much it would cost to fix one of our aircraft if one of these [debris] were to get into an engine."

"It doesn't take much to destroy a $3M F-15 jet engine," Sergeant Rogers added. "So it's critical that we keep our airfields free of any type of foreign objects and that we control any tools or maintenance action in or around aircraft inlets or systems because they can lead to a catastrophic mishap."

Sergeant Rogers said not much FOD was found on or around the 12,000-foot runways this year compared to last. He said there was a metal plate found as well as a sinkhole that averaged six feet in diameter. The sinkhole was filled in right after the FOD walk was completed.

Before people went out to scour the flight line for FOD, Sergeant Rogers and other airfield management members hid six golden bolts throughout the flight line as part of their FOD prevention awards program to raise awareness and educate Airmen on the FOD program. Those who found a golden bolt received a certificate of appreciation, and a $25 gift certificate courtesy of the 18th Services Squadron which can be used at any Services facility.

"This year's FOD walk went pretty well," said Master Sgt. Lawrence Penrod, new FOD program manager. "This is my first time seeing the big walk from this point of view. I didn't realize how much coordination and effort it takes to put this event together."

"The FOD program is a very strong preventive measure," Sergeant Rogers added. "We want to stamp out that cancer before it even begins, and it takes every effort from all of Team Kadena regardless of department of service, or civilian component to ensure mission success."